The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for processing three-dimensional (3D) image data of a mobile terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for enabling contents sharing and reproduction between various 3D devices using a file structure for efficiently storing 3D image data obtained using a plurality of cameras and a stored 3D related parameter.
A recent image technology is in active progress in a direction of a study regarding a method for realizing a 3D image. This is for expressing more realistic image information having a sense of reality. A method of scanning a left visual point image and a right visual point image on relevant positions of an existing display device, respectively, using a characteristic of a human visual sense, and then allowing the left visual point image and the right visual point image to be separated and focused on a user's left eye and right eye, respectively, thereby allowing the user to feel a 3D effect is obtaining its possibility in various aspects. For example, a mobile terminal (a 3D mobile phone, a 3D camera, a 3D camcorder, etc.) and a 3D TV mounting a barrier LCD thereon may reproduce stereoscopic contents to provide a more realistic image to a user.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a structure of an image file used by a general mobile terminal.
Referring to FIG. 1, the image file is a JPEG file, which is a still image store file format generally used much, starting with a Start of Image (SOI) marker 101 and ending with End of Image (EOI) marker 107. APP1 (EXIF) application marker 103 storing additional information of an image exists in the intermediate portion, and a Minimum Coded Unit (MCU) data portion 105, which is compression data of an actual image, is included. The application marker portion 103 is an additional field currently defined from APP0 to APP15, where a camera manufacturer or a related viewer company defines and uses necessary parameters in its own way.
To provide a 3D effect using image files shot by a plurality of cameras, a plurality of image files having the above structure should be stored. For example, in case of stereo image data shot by two cameras, relevant two files should be generated, respectively. In this case, information regarding connection relation between the two files should be stored. In the case where one file is deleted or a filename is modified, a device cannot reproduce the image as a 3D image.
That is, since a store file format regarding an image obtained by a plurality of cameras and a file structure for storing 3D related parameters are not defined in the conventional art, it is impossible to share and reproduce contents between various 3D devices.